


The Music of Machinery

by ladybugdays



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Humor, Hordak doesnt know how soft he is for entrapta, Im known for loving villains a whole lot and it shows, Impromptu dance lessons, Mild Character Study, don't get me wrong his actions and beliefs are awful but he's got feelings too okay, hordak drinks his respecting women juices, mild introspection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-07
Updated: 2019-10-07
Packaged: 2020-11-26 14:10:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,069
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20931530
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladybugdays/pseuds/ladybugdays
Summary: "What's that you're doing?"She blinked at him slowly. "My humming?"





	The Music of Machinery

Despite what the rebellion believed, Hordak did not, in fact, spend every waking moment of his time stewing up an evil plot. 

He had to keep busy. The limited patience he had was the forced kind, born from year after endless year stuck on a miserable rock of a planet. If Hordak wasn't working on his portal, he was thinking about it. Thinking without acting only made him want to work on it more. Working on it was relentlessly frustrating, but at least he was _ working _on it.

(And if Hordak had a therapist, they would probably tell him he needed to organize his goals and learn to live in the moment. To the detriment of countless Etherians, that therapist did not exist.)

At least one of She-Ra’s contributions to rebellion propaganda was based in fact. There was no time for rest in the Horde. Hordak and the idea of willful rest were perfect strangers. It distinguished him from those under his thumb. Late to bed and early to rise equated to advantageous work ours, nevermind the exhaustion constantly weighting Hordak's limbs down. 

If he could live with the pain, so could his subordinates. 

Although, loathsome as time alone with his thoughts was, the company Hordak kept was limited. Shadow Weaver had picked up whatever fell through his surface cracks- fragments of glass she would soon wield as a knife aimed at his back- but Hordak preferred the distance. 

He had eyes and ears on every wall. Horde Prime had never bothered to leave his throne. Why should an echo of him? 

(Such an idea would be one of the many a therapist would narrow their eyes at. "Hm," they would say. "Why do you feel as if you need to do everything Horde Prime does? Do you not see yourself as your own person?" This therapist hopefully specialized in patients with a history of being clones.) 

The first person to ever see deeper than the hairline cracks was also the first to ever be given free range of his lab. 

Which was… an _ adjustment _to say the least. 

Entrapta was talkative. Endearingly so, as she both kept his thoughts at bay and intimately knew any topic she touched upon. Never did she make Hordak feel lesser for the things he lacked. The opportunity to learn was a beautiful thing. 

Entrapta's homemade equipment melded with his haphazard setup perfectly imperfect. Wires met framework, pipes met exhaust fan, and sockets met conductors. From there, her propositions always lead to something promising. She was so optimistic. She was so-

(The therapist would push up those rectangular-framed glasses all therapists seemed to have. "And this Entrapta woman- she makes you feel as if you finally have an equal? One that doesn't have to be identical to you?") 

Entrapta adjusted herself well to any setting. Her adaptability was another one of her many admirable traits. What was the saying Shadow Weaver coined for propaganda? Give a princess any leeway, and she'd take over all you held dear? 

Entrapta had wiggled his way into Hordak’s heart and bulldozed her way through his iron walls by telling Hordak he was standing in the way of her light. From there on, she’d certainly made a home out of his laboratory. Perhaps leeway was an understatement. 

It was not unusual for the noise coming from Hordak's inner sanctum to test the durability of walls. He was prone to shouting, smashing, crashing, and when the mood struck him, bashing equipment into other equipment. 

Yet some of the sounds Entrapta produced were far from that. 

Cooing over functional equipment, mimicking the chirps and whines from unknown sources amongst the pipes, muttering the code his circuit boards spoke in… Hordak found that he didn't mind her doing it. It added to the ambiance. 

And other times, he didn't know how he felt about it at all. 

"What's that you're doing?" 

Entrapta's light swaying ceased, as did the sounds coming from her mouth. They were not her usual coons or beeps. Instead, Entrapta had been producing a smooth noise as she analyzed feedback from their day's work. 

She blinked at him slowly. "My humming?" 

"Yes, your… hum-ing." Hordak ran the word over his tongue like a new flavor. He found it rather savory for his liking. 

"I didn't even realize I was doing it! Sorry if it bothered you, lab partner!" Entrapta offered a broad, apologetic grin. The light reflecting off of her irises reminded Hordak of the nebulas he hoped to one day show her. 

Hordak was not yet accustomed to the warmth such thoughts brought him. He straightened and fixed Entrapta with a serious gaze instead. "There's hardly anything so simple that could distract me. Why, does it bother you to go without it?” 

("Hordak," his therapist would chime in, "we’ve talked about your issues with deflection. Not everything is a test of your fortitude.") 

"I do it when I'm trying to think," Entrapta admitted, "but I do a lot of different things for that." The ends of her hair twitched on the floor as a coincidental example. "Have you never hummed before?" 

"I understand your need for stimulation, but…" Hordak paused, searching Entrapta's face for a warning sign. Instead, he found a fresh flash of heat when she tilted her head. His exoskeleton might have been malfunctioning. "I have never heard of such a thing."

"You've never had an ear worm?"

Hordak scowled. “I am entirely worm-free. If you need a medical consultation-" 

"-music is a science, but I didn't think it would need a name to everybody!" Entrapta tilted her head to the other side. A tendril of hair scratched at her head, digging around for the thoughts in her brain. "It’s something I could so much put into words as just show you!" 

Hordak only stared. Entrapta's hair carried her upwards climbing the rungs on a support beam. She disappeared into one of her dozen nooks amongst thick wiring. A moment of rummaging later, her head poked out. A tiny box- perhaps some type of circuit board- sat in her hand. 

"What are you-" Hordak was cut-off by a flick of Entrapta’s thumb. A noise nearly identical to the one she had produced drifted down over him. 

Entrapta scuttled back to his level. The circuit box was promptly set on the table with a wall of stoic screens. "It's music!" Entrapta beamed up at Hordak, gaging his response. 

"Mew-seek?" Hordak’s scowl deepened. "It's just noise!" 

"But it's pleasant noise- well, made to be pleasant!" Entrapta's smile wavered. "I have a few other tracks if you don't like this one." 

Hordak sighed. He distractedly crossed his arms and tapped his fingers against the plate over his forearm. "If you enjoy it so much, it can remain on."

The mew-seek reminded him of a machine’s thrum. At least the ones that weren’t about to explode. It meant satisfaction in his work. If such a thing granted Entrapta the same sensation, she was permitted to indulge. 

Entrapta's smile returned with full force. She resumed her humming, this time accompanied by a tapping of her foot. Screens retook her focus a moment later. 

Hordak turned back to his own monitor. Fresh information stuttered across it's sleek surface. Good technology was difficult to come by on backwater planets, but as always, he made do. 

Hordak focused on the screen through narrowed eyes, pretending it would help him retain the information more efficiently. It was a movement in his peripheral that distracted him. 

"What are you doing now?" Hordak did not mean to sound harsh, but they had work to do. 

"Dancing?" Entrapta moved her hips in a wormish wiggle that was clearly beneath her. Her hands and hair bobbed along to the pace set by her foot. "Do they not have it here?" 

"We don't have time for such trivial things! Stop this at once!" 

"Why? It feels good- and the flow of blood to my heart helps me think!"

"It's beneath you!" 

Hordak's patience wore rapidly thin. Entrapta was meant to stand tall and give orders, just as he was. They were both grown and made for a purpose beyond impish play. 

"I can still enjoy it!" Entrapta gave a twirl. "Had to have something to keep my joints from locking up! You do know you're supposed to stretch, don't you?" 

"If it's something I don't know, then clearly it's something I don't need to know!" 

(His therapist would certainly add such a statement to their notes.) 

Entrapta paused mid-wiggle, blinking a few times. Her expression turned painfully soft. It was different from the way fruit respectfully rotted when he looked at it. "If you want me to show you, you're allowed to ask, Hordak."

"I said-" 

"I know what you said." Entrapta's hair lifted her to his level. Nebula and solar flare red brushed through their shared gaze. "You can say no, but consider it a new experiment! You can see if it makes you feel better afterwards."

Entrapta offered her hand. There was no demand in the gesture, or indication of malicious intent. She simply offered her assistance again and again, and hopefully, would continue to do so forever.

(Hordak would tell his therapist that he admired Entrapta's tenacious optimism. She threw herself back into work with a grin on her face, failure after failure, frustration after frustration. It made his sluggish pulse quicken with inspiration.)

Hordak took her outstretched hand. Pointed fingers twined with gloved ones. He felt reinvigorated by the unity. 

"Follow my lead," Entrapta told him. He was aware of her hands fitting on the grooves in his shoulders as if they had been molded for such a gesture, and hardly anything else. 

Hordak followed Entrapta as she took one step back, and then another. She chased his feet back. They moved in a steady back-and-forth, drawing warmth out of the crooks in his armor until it soaked his entire body. 

"Where did you learn this?" Hordak asked as Entrapta twirled him. Her hands- another one of her best features with all of their dexterity- fluttered and sank into different dips and bows. 

"Well, my parents taught me, technically speaking!" Entrapta brought them closer and then farther apart again. Their rhythm reminded him of synchronized pistons. "I found old recordings of them dancing together before they died." 

"Ah," Hordak said. He had never heard of a creature having two genetic donors to be cloned from, but perhaps it explained Entrapta's endless wonders. Such worth could not come from or be contained in a single being. She had to spread it across everything she did. 

Horde Prime was much the same. 

(His therapist certainly had points to make on healthy influences.)

"I'll tell you what," Entrapta said. "You're a better partner than any machine I've built!" 

Hordak cleared his throat in an attempt to look dignified. "I find that a compliment from you is an honor, as I respect you deeply." 

Entrapta's forearm slipped behind his waste. She dipped him gently. Instead of fear, it was heat threatened to overwhelm him. 

"Sto- stop- I-" Hordak's body locked up. Entrapta dropped him. He stumbled, bracing himself for the floor before her hair caught him. 

Entrapta hovered over him. The distance between them had changed. She chewed on her fingertips. "Oh Hordak, I'm sorry- did- did I do something wrong?" 

The music had stopped. 

Hordak commanded his body to go lax. The tendrils around him loosened. He had stopped resisting them. "No," he said coolly. "No. My body was not made for this."

("Despite what you think, you have the capacity to love, Hordak," his much, much needed therapist would say. They would need to follow with an explanation of what love was when met with his confusion.)

"Ohh!" Entrapta hit the ground already circling him. Her eyes scanned the endless possibilities before her. "I have time to run diagnostics while we wait on the next set of test results, if you need..." 

Hordak raised his head high and moved his arms behind his back. He had assumed the position a thousand times before. Never had it felt unlike a lie. "As you see fit, Entrapta."

Entrapta's answering hum of excitement sent a fresh wave of dysfunction through Hordak. How it was possible to be both pleased and afraid of her taking him apart again and again felt far beyond him. But all around them, the machinery sang. 

**Author's Note:**

> My baby lesbian heart is not ready for season four. If you want to come yell at me on tumblr, my handle is ladybugdays


End file.
